GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM Robert Eldridge, professor in Japanese political and diplomatic history, is helping to transcribe and authenticate the 67-page handwritten journal of Lt. Charles W. Hatch.

War chronicle

A lieutenant's journal about the battle of
Iwo Jima makes its way to an isle group

The Pacific War Memorial Association has a rare, 67-page handwritten account of the horrific battle 60 years ago on the tiny volcanic island of Iwo Jima.

Among the 71,245 Marines, sailors and soldiers who stormed the black sand beaches of Iwo Jima -- located 660 miles south of Tokyo -- on Feb. 19, 1945, was a Lt. Charles W. Hatch, a dentist and a member of the medical landing team.

Hatch, then 27, had kept a journal beginning in late 1944 when the 28th Marines of the 5th Marine Regiment was training at Camp Tarawa on the Big Island's Parker Ranch. His landing craft, which carried four corpsme'n engineer and communication and headquarters personnel, landed on the southern tip of Iwo Jima near 546-foot Mount Suribachi with elements of the 2nd Battalion during the second invasion wave.

Because of wartime censorship, Hatch never said his training was conducted in Hawaii and on the Big Island. But he does detail meticulously what the Marines did in preparing for the amphibious assault on a speck of land roughly two miles wide by four miles in length.

"The amphibious training was held on an island much larger than Iwo. A section of terrain was laid out on the map to correspond to the target area and we made our landings there. The small landing craft which hold 32 men are amazingly sea worthy. They heave and roll and water splashes over them and the occupants but they stay afloat."

More than 250,000 men and 900 ships were involved in this amphibious operation under the command of Adm. Richmond Turner.

Alice Clark, chairman of the association, received Hatch's 67-page handwritten journal from retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Lewayne Thompson, who was helping Hatch's widow, Colleen, find "an appropriate repository" to preserve and still share her husband's combat experiences.

Clark turned to Marine Forces Pacific at Camp Smith for help to transcribe and authenticate the six-decade-old journal. That job was handed over to Robert Eldridge, who was on a year's leave from his job as associate professor of Osaka University's School of International Public Policy.

Eldridge, who for the past 15 years has lived and taught in Japan, said reading personal journals like Hatch's gives him a better understanding not only of the significance of the battle for Iwo Jima, but also the sacrifices made by both sides.

The Marine contingent, the largest to fight under a single command, suffered more than 22,000 casualties, with 5,390 Marines killed and 17,400 wounded. In addition, there were more than 2,700 Navy casualties and 35 Army soldiers killed.

Of the estimated 21,000 Japanese who fought for nearly five weeks to try to retain the 8-square-mile island, more than 20,000 were killed.

"It took more than 23 years for Iwo Jima to be returned to the Japanese," Eldridge added. "Many in the United States for strategic and symbolic reasons were against the return. Reading this journal helps me to better understand the sacrifices that were made. It is still difficult for many people to reconcile the return of the island, which occurred in 1968."

"I was scared. It seemed hard to breathe and I know my heart was going at least 125. My legs felt weak and all of the gear on my back and belt seemed heavy. ... When the ramp was down I ran off the front of it into only a foot of water but the sand wouldn't hold you. It didn't get any better as you left the waters edge: either you sank into that heavy porous black gravel about up to your knees. Looking along the waterline was a dismaying sight. Jeeps, reconnaissance trucks, half tracks, tanks, bulldozers, ducks, and 6x6 trucks were all mired at the water's edge."

Hatch was nearly killed by mortar or land mines twice. The first occurred just after he landed on the beach.

"There was a pretty deep shell hole about twenty yards away. Just as I had decided to take off for it a mortar shell came in behind me. It was really deafening. It slid me forward a few inches and bobbed my feet up off the ground. I didn't feel them lift but I did feel them hit the ground. I didn't know if I was hit or not. My feet felt numb and it was with little doubt that I looked back at them. The sand was a greenish yellow right up to my feet. I later learned this was the high explosive picric acid charge from the mortar shells. Charles, you'll never walk way from a closer one than that as I jumped for the shell hole up the hill. My feet were still numb like they were asleep but why that thing didn't tear me up with shrapnel I'll never know. The soft sand and the angle of the beach was all that saved me."

In 2003 Eldridge traveled to Iwo Jima to observe the joint ceremonies involving Japanese and U.S. veterans: "It was an extremely emotional moment."

Clark will include Hatch's journal on the association's Web site, www.pacificwarmemorial.org, and make copies available to schoolchildren and other groups interested in the history of the war.

"Frankly, there are a lot of people who still do not want to talk about their experiences," Clark added. "They just don't want to go there."Eldridge hopes to get an article on Hatch's journal printed in the Marine Corps Gazette, which is published by the Marine Corps Association.

Hatch's last entry:

"We got aboard ship about 6:30 that night -- March 26. A Shower! Hot Chow!! A bed with sheets!!! I slept all the next day. The ship was the USS Winged Arrow. It was a good ship. Plenty of room and fine food.

"We came back to our old camp."

Hatch died on Aug. 28, 2004. He was 86.

Memorial brick donations continue The Pacific War Memorial Association, which erected the Iwo Jima statue at the entrance to the Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay to commemorate the 36-day battle on March 2002, is still accepting bricks for the "walkway of honor" surrounding the memorial. Individuals who contribute $100 or more can have a brick engraved with a three-line tribute. For more information, go to: www.pacificwarmemorial.org or write to the association at P.O. Box 1761, Honolulu, HI 96806.